Jason Fitch Response

Jason Fitch is the Pastor at Freedom Valley Tulsa. Josh Ploch is the Associate Pastor to Jason Fitch. They are both amazing people in which i have had the opportunity to meet and their hearts are huge and they are just amazing men of God!

Today Jason talked about Discipleship and Evangelism. Believe it or not they are trying to start a Discipleship group right now where they would have a group of people who are willing to get together with new believers in the church to help them grow and just talk about the Bible and just be able to disciple them just as Jesus discipled many. I think that this idea is awesome and so necessary so that first off, not only can you see the people that are growing in Christ that you are ministering to, but it can also Jason to grow his church even more! I just love this idea of what he is doing and i am personally really going to pray that God would work out something awesome for Jason and the staff so that they can do some awesome ministering in Tulsa!

Another thing that i loved hearing Jason talk about today was how he does team building. This interests me for the reason that i believe God is calling me to work in discipleship ministry and i want to be able to know how to do some awesome team building and finding the right people to work with my vision and what God has called me to one day! One thing that Jason said was, "Pray that God would go ahead of you to build that team first." I like this saying because really when you think about it, God is already thinking about the people that he has picked out for your team. I think thought too that you need to pray and ask God to set those right people before you and that God would help you to choose the right people. I am so excited for the ministry that i will work in one day and what God is going to do in the young adults that i am able to minister to and i just cannot wait! I can't believe how much God has been growing me in my calling in this class. Jason has such a heart and i loved what he talked about today but these two things were exactly what stuck out to me today and i thank God for it!

Unchurched Friend Interview #2

Sex: Male Age: 21
1. What are you reasons for not going back to a church that you visited once or any church?

 Limited amount of time.

2. Was there something that kept you away from a church or from not going back to a certain church?
 Not in particular.

3. What do you think the purpose of church is?
Worship God

4. Did you feel welcome when you walked into church? If not, why?
Yes

5. Do you think there are areas in the church that could be improved or made better? If so, what could be improved?
 Not specifically the church. I've had people not like me because of my religion as opposed to who I am and my values. Which sends a bad message toward me. Then again there are people in every type of group that make poor choices.

6. What would make the enviornment of the church more inviting to you?
Church always seems very inviting. I have no advice there

7. Do you believe in the one true God? If not, how come?
 No. I have not been able to put my faith in the bible.

8. Is there a way that the pastor and teachers at the church could make it easier for you to understand what they are preaching about?
 So far I have been able to understand what I learned at church very well.

9. Do you think that a Christian should go to church on a regular basis? If yes, why, if no, why?
Yes, from what I understand the bible tells them to. Not to mention if you believe in something to that extent, I think it is important for the person to experience it weekly and make sure it stays real in their lives.

10. Do you think that going to church every sunday could change your life around?
 I'm not sure I want my life turned around so to speak. I am super happy with my life!. I'm always open to finding ways to improve though. I know the values instilled within people at church, are great values that help to turn their lives around.




I was actually really amazed at the answers that i got here. This man was completely honest with me and said how he really felt and actually gave me length to his answers. I was actually very interested in his answer to number 5. It's quite different and i am curious as to what his religion is. The fact that he hasn't been able to put his faith in the Bible and not believing in God is really mind blowing to me in a way. So given that he has understood what we is being preached when he does attend church he knows what the truth is but because he is so enjoying his life right now he doesn't want God, he doesn't want to give up his life for Jesus Christ. I think he is learning a lot and i really believe that God is going to work in his life and i think God may be getting ready to show him some things but maybe just isn't seeing yet. So my thoughts on this interview and how it went, was that it went really well and some of the answers that i got really makes me think a little bit more because here this person believes in God but seems like he picks and chooses what he wants and what he can do and can't do and i'm not sure that he is ready to give up everything to follow after God. I hope that in the future he is ready to give up everything to run after the one and only King of the universe.

Cullen Allen Response

Cullen Allen is on the staff at Allison Park Church. Cullen oversees the young adults and the MCM School.

Cullen's underlying philosophy is "To raise up spiritual warriors for the Kingdom of God, to teach them how to live out the book of Acts in signs, wonders, and miracles." I love Cullen's philosophy here because working in a discipleship program, in my view the point of it is to exactly what Cullen said. I personally want to be able to raise up spiritual warriors for God's Kingdom.

I love that Cullen said their school is very hands on with ministry. I find that to be huge, especially when you are in a ministry school. I'm a believer that when you are able to get hands on in the ministry it helps you grow so much more and it gives you much more experience when it even comes to getting hired in the ministry. I love being hands on because i get the experience behind it and i learn so much more because i'm able to actually do it, not just learn about it.

One of the biggest things that i got out of listening to Cullen Allen was Confrontation. He made the mention that confrontation is a daily and necessary part of our ministry even though it's difficult to do. As Cullen put it, "Confrontation is an art; it's really like trial and error. The way i learned how to do confrontation was by doing it wrong so many times." I had asked Cullen about confrontation and that's what he told me. It kind of hit me hard. Even though i don't want to be bad at confrontation, i do realize that each time i'm able to improve it or learn something that i did wrong that i can improve for the next time. I know this is an area that i am definitely working on right now even as a small leader now. It's not easy and i want to get better at but i'm not really sure how to either. I am going to do my best now as a leader with confrontation when it happens and i really hope in the future that when i am discipling young adults that i am able to do well with confrontation, at least better than i have been and not come across as kind of harsh but to come across lovingly.

Cullen Allen does a great job with his program for just talking to him and i am so glad that he was able to share with us!